The Republican field for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat continues to expand, as Mark Jacobs confirmed today he is forming an exploratory committee. He will travel around Iowa while deciding whether to run. Speaking to Radio Iowa, Jacobs laid out the case for his candidacy:

“This came about with the work I’ve done with ‘Reaching Higher Iowa’ which is a non-profit organization I started in January to advocate for improved public education in the state and I’ve had the opportunity through ‘Reaching Higher Iowa’ to travel all over the state and meet a lot of great people and through the course of those travels I’ve had a number of people that have urged me to consider the U.S. Senate race in 2014,” Jacobs said during an interview with Radio Iowa. […]

“Made the decision to move home. I’ve been teaching up at Iowa State in the business school which has been a terrific experience for me to try to bring a little bit of the real-life business experiences and give students a glimpse of that and I started ‘Reaching Higher Iowa’ in January of this year to advocate for improved public education,” Jacobs said. […]

“I have approached everything I have done with good old-fashioned Iowa values and common sense business principles,” Jacobs said, “and one of the things I learned over the course of my business career that in order to solve problems you need to understand the root cause and you need to listen to people at a grassroots level.”

Some Republican activists may question whether Jacobs is a true believer in social conservative causes, but I believe others will be attracted to his resume. Business owner Mike Whalen easily won the GOP primary to represent IA-01 in 2006 against two rivals who were more politically experienced.

The Iowa Democratic Party launched its opening salvo against Jacobs this afternoon. In a statement I’ve posted after the jump, IDP executive director Troy Price criticized Jacobs’ “Wall Street background” as “out-of-step with Iowa.”

Statement from the Iowa Democratic Party, June 26:

WALL STREET TO TAKE ON MAIN STREET: MARK JACOBS JUMPS IN

DES MOINES, IA – According to the Des Moines Register, former Wall Street executive Mark Jacobs is preparing to take on Main Street Iowa by running for U.S. Senate. While Jacobs spent over a decade making a name for himself working for Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, he will struggle to convince Main Street Iowans that he’s the right choice to represent them in Washington.

“We need an Iowa problem solver like Bruce Braley in the US Senate who represents main street values, not a New York banker who made a fortune on Wall Street,” said Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Troy Price.  “Mark Jacobs’ Wall Street background couldn’t be more out-of-step with Iowa. In the short time Mr. Jacobs has lived here, you’d think even he would have realized this.”

Mark Jacobs Joined Goldman Sachs In 1989. “Jacobs, 40, has an investment banking background that includes work with energy and power companies. Reliant is among them. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1989 in mergers and acquisitions in New York, moving to corporate finance operations here in 1998. For the past several years, Jacobs, in his capacity at Goldman, has served as an adviser to Reliant’s executive management and board of directors on strategic issues, the company said.” [Houston Chronicle, 7/17/02]